Self-regulating fluid heater



Dec. 2, 1952 Filed Jan. I50, 1950 R. G. PHILLIPS SELF-REGULATING FLUIDHEAT-ER 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Dec. 2, 1952 R. G. PHILLIPS 2,619,944

SELF-REGULATING FLUID HEATER Inventor Pay 5, Phi/lips Attorney PatentedDec. 2, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SELF-REGULATIN G FLUID HEATERRay G. Phillips, Port Huron, Mich. Application January 30, 1950, SerialNo. 141,243.

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a. thermostatically controlled fluid heaterespecially, adapted for use in preventing water cooled engines fromfreezing but also adapted for use in preventing water for livestock fromfreezing and for various other uses.

A primary object of the invention is to provide an improved fluid heaterfor automatically maintaining the cooling water of an internalcombustion engine at a desired temperature when the engine is notrunning.

Another object is to provide an improved fluid heater in which the gaswhich is burned to heat the water also operates a turbine which drives apump to circulate the water during the heating period.

Still another object is to provide an improved fluid heater with a pilotlight that is extremely economical in operation.

A, further object is to provide an automatic water heating system forinternal combustion engines that requires no electrical connections.

Although it is common practice to mix various substances with thecooling water of internal combustion engines to lower the freezing pointand thereby prevent freezing, this method has at least one outstandingdisadvantage, viz., the engine is difiicult to start at lowtemperatures. This difficulty has been alleviated somewhat by heatingthe lubricating oil prior to starting, but since this is usually done byelectrical immersion heaters operated from the car battery, the addedstrain on the battery largely defeats the advantages gained by asomewhat easier start.

A more satisfactory solution is to maintain the cooling water at atemperature above freezing by an external heater. This not only resultsin an easier start due to the fact that all operating parts are keptrelatively warm, but there is no need for the slightest delay instarting due to waiting for the oil to become warm.

In the case of livestock water supplies, it is obvious that the watercannot be adulterated to prevent freezing and must be heated; the heaterherein described is exceptionally well adaptedto this purpose,especially in the case of isolated water supplies in cold climates.

, The accompanying drawings illustrate a preferred form of theinvention, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the assembled heater withaportion of the insulated housing broken away;

Figure 2 is a side view in cross-section of the thermostaticallyoperated gas valve;

Figure 3 is a side view in cross-section of the pilot assembly;

of the burner with the enclosed within a housing I provided with an,

insulating lining I, a portion of the insulated housing i being brokenaway in Figure 1. Ex:-- tendmg through the walls of the housing i are.

a. water inlet pipe a gas supply pipe 4.

The water inlet pipe 2 connects with the inlet of the lower housingEafof a thermostatically operated valve 5. A second pipe I6 connects theoutlet of the lower housing 5a to the inlet of the pump end of the.turbine-pump unit ll. Connected between the outlet of the pump housingand the outlet pipe 3 is a, heating coil l8 which preferably is conicalin shape to provide for better heat absorption.

Leading ofi from the main gas pipe 4. is a branch pipe l9 which suppliesautomatic pilot 30. The main gas pipe 4 is connected to the inlet or theturbine side of the turbine-pump unit II. The outlet of the turbine isconnected by means of pipe 28 with the upper housing 5b of thethermostatically controlled valve 5. Pipe: 2! leads from upper housing5b to burner 22. An interior insulated partition la is positionedbetween the burner 22 and heating coil It on one hand, and thermostaticvalve mechanism 5 and the turbinepump unit l1 on the other hand, toshield the latter units from the heat of the burner. A vent lb isprovided in the insulated housing to allow the products of combustion toescape and another vent I0 is provided near the bottom of the housingfor the entry of fresh air for combustion.

In general, the operation is as follows: When 2, a water outlet. pipe 3,and

the Water in the system is cooled below a certain point, say 35 F., thethermostatically operated valve 5 opens and allows gas to flow frompipe, through the turbine end of the turbine-pump unit [1, pipe 20,upper housing 512, and pipe 21 to burner 22. The burner is. ignited byautomatic pilot 30 which is continuously supplied with gas throughbranch pipe IS. The flow oi. gas through the turbine operates the pumpwhich is connected to the turbine and water is pumped from the inletpipe 2, through the lower housing Ea, pipe I8, turbine-pump unit l1, andheating coil l8 to the outlet pipe 3. Thus, the water is automaticallycirculated through the coil while the burner 22 is operating, resultingin more efficient heating. After the temperature of the water has beenraised sufficiently so there is no danger of freezing, the valve closesand shuts off the burner 22. This, of course, stops the operation of theturbine-pump unit ll until the water has cooled again and the cycle isrestarted. by the valve 5.

The thermostatically operated valve 5 is shown in detail in Figure 2. Itcomprises a lower housing 5a and an upper housing 5b, held together bybolts 50 with housing 5b acting as a cap or cover for housing 5a. Thelower cup-shaped housing Ed has a threaded inlet port 61) in one walland a threaded outlet port 60 in the opposite wall, and fluid movestherethrough in passing to the heater coil l8. These ports are connectedby suitable fittings to the inlet pipe 2 and pipe l5, respectively.Within the lower housing 5a is a thermostat unit comprising a bellows laand a plunger lb extending vertically upward from the upper end ofbellows 1a. The bellows and plunger are assembled as a unit in a framewhich is removably mounted in housing 5a., in intimate thermal coupledrelation to fluid passing to the heater coil. The upper housing 519 hasa large, threaded bore 8a formed therein, followed by a smaller, smoothbore 8b, and a still smaller smooth bore 80, the series of boresextending from the upper face to the lower face of the housing. Slidablymounted within the bore 80 is a valve plunger 9; a packing l9 surroundsvalve plunger 9 and is compressed into bore 3b by packing nut H which isscrewed into bore 8a.. A plug I2 having a threaded inlet port [30.formed centrally therein and a valve seat l3b formed on theinner sidethereof is screwed in bore 3a until it is flush with the upper face ofhousing 51). A threaded outlet port I30 is formed in the wall of housing51) between the packing nut H and the plug I2. A spring 911 surroundingthe lower end of plunger 9 and engaging the lower face of housing 51)urges the valve plunger 9 downwardly or toward the open position. Port[3a is connected to pipe and port is connected to pipe 2! so that whenthe water in housing 5a is cooled below a predetermined temperature andthe thermostatic bellows la contracts, the spring 9a moves the valveplunger 9 off the seat 131) and gas flows from pipe 20 through valve 5to pipe 2!. When the water is above the predetermined temperature thebellows la expands, causing plunger lb to engage valve plunger 9,compressing spring 9a and seating valve lunger 9 upon the seat l3b, thusshutting off the flow of gas to the burner 22 through pipe 2|.

The automatic pilot 30 is shown in detail in Figures 3 and 4. Thepurpose of this pilot is to economize on the rate of gas consumption byhaving the pilot flame normally so low as to be ineffective to light theburner 22 but to periodically flare up sufficiently to light the burnerif the valve 5 is open. The pilot housing is composed of three parts,lower housing 39a, upper housing 3%, and plug 390. The lower housing ishollow or cup-shaped and a fitting 3! is threaded through one wallthereof. The fitting 3! has a small orifice am therethrough for apurpose to be described later; the other end of fitting BI is attachedto pipe IS). The upper housing 3%, also cup-shaped, is attached to lowerhousing 39;: by suitable means, in this case by forming threadson thetwo parts and screwing them together. A valve 32, seated in an openingin the bottom wall of upper housing 301), is biased to the closedposition by spring 32a, and normally closes off the passage from thelower chamber in housing 39a to the chamber in the upper housing 301).The top of upper housing 391) is closed by plug 300, forming an upperchamber above the valve 32. Pilot orifices 33 are formed in the walls ofupper housing 39b and communicate with the upper chamber. As down inFigures 1 and 4, the burner 22 is of annular form and is rovided withgas orifices 22a on the top side thereof. The pilot light 39 is arrangedwithin the central space of the burner 22 and is positioned so that thepilot orifices 33 are located in a plane just above the upper surface ofthe burner, see Figure 1.

The operation of the pilot is as follows: gas entering through orifice31a builds up pressure in the lower chamber until the total force actingon the bottom of the valve 32 exceeds that of the sum of the force ofthe spring 32a plus the force of any gas pressure acting on the top ofthe valve 32. Valve 32 then opens and allows gas to fiow from the lowerchamber to the upper chamber, decreasing the pressure in the lowerchamber and increasing the pressure in the upper chamber. The valve 32then closes and the pressure in the lower chamber begins to build upagain due to the restrictedflow of gas through orifice Sla. Upon theopening of the valve 32 the pilot flame, which is fed through orifice33, flares up or spurts outwardly across the burner to light it and thengradually dies down when valve 32 is closed, only to flare up again whenthe valve is opened by the build-up in pressure in the lower chamber.Normally the pilot light is very small and does not extend out farenough to light the burner, but on each pulse of gas it shoots outacross the burner and lights it. If desired, a small constant stream ofgas may be supplied to the upper chamber by leakages around the valve orby a separate trickle aperture formed in the partition wall separatingthe two chambers. By adjusting the force of spring 32a the frequency ofpulsing may be varied, and I find that a pulse rate of one pulse every 5to 7 seconds is satisfactory.

The turbine-pump unit I! is shown in detail in Figures 5, 6 and 7. Thehousing, which is formed in two halves, lower half l'la. and upper half[1b, is machined out to receive a pump impeller l4 and a turbine wheelit: which are mounted on the opposite ends of shaft 23. A ring packing24 is provided at the middle of the shaft 23 to prevent the leakage ofgas into the pump or water into the turbine. Water is supplied to theimpeller 14 through inlet port 25a and discharged through port 2512.Similarly, inlet port 26a and outlet port 2% are provided in conjunctionwith the turbine wheel l5. The two halves Ha and [1b are held togetherby bolts which pass through upper half [lb and are screwed into threadedholes 2'! in lower half l'la.

In using my heater, the pipes 2 and 3 are connected to a device throughwhich heated liquid is to be circulated, such as the radiator of anautomobile, or a watering trough for animals. Usually, water will be theheat transfer medium circulated through the load device and the heatercoil IE, but in certain cases, such as a radiator for a room or a house,oil or other fluid may be used instead of water.

It will be understood that the gas line 4 will be connected to anyconvenient source of gas. andwhere the usual gas supply system is notavailable, the line 4 will be connected to a container of compressed gasof the type commonly available for use in remote locations or invehicles.

I claim:

1. An automatic fluid heater comprising, a thermally insulated housingwhich may be conveniently installed at a location where a fluid is to beheated or maintained at a predetermined desired temperature, a, fluidheater coil mounted in said housing; a gas burner mounted in saidhousing for heating said fluid heater coil, a fuel gas control valve,fuel gas supply conduit means leading into said housing and connectingthrough said control valve for supplying fuel gas to said burner, fluidintake conduit means leading into said housing and connected for passingfluid to be heated into the lower end of said heater coil, a fluidconduit leading from the upper end of said heater coil and extended forleading heated fluid from the housing, a thermostatic element disposedfor operating said valve and arranged to be thermally influenced by thetemperature of fluid flowing to said heater coil in said fluid intakeconduit means for operating the valve to admit or to restrict the fuelgas flowing to said burner accordingly as the temperature of the fluidin said fluid intake conduit means falls or rises to maintain the fluidwithin a desired temperature range, igniting means disposed near the gasburner for igniting gas released from the burner, said housing beingconformed to provide vents for admitting combustion supporting fresh airto the housing and for discharging the products of combustion therefrom,and further characterized by said housing being horizontally elongatedand having said vents in one end thereof, and said heater coil and gasburner being mounted in the end of the housing near said vents.

2. An automatic fluid heater in accordance with claim 1 and furthercharacterized by said heater coil being of a generally conical shapeabove the gas burner.

3. An automatic fluid heater comprising, a housing which may beconveniently installed at a location where a fluid is to be heated ormaintained at a predetermined desired temperature, a fluid heater coilmounted in said housing, a gas burner mounted in said housing forheating said heater coil, a, fuel gas control valve, fuel gas supplyconduit means leading into said housing and connecting through saidcontrol valve for supplying fuel gas to said burner, a fluid circulator,

fluid intake conduit means leading into said housing and connected forpassing fluid to be heated through said circulator and into one end ofsaid heater coil, a fluid conduit leading from the other end of saidheater coil for conducting heated fluid from the housing, a thermostaticelement disposed for operating said valve and arranged to be thermallyinfluenced by the temperature of fluid flowing to said heater coil insaid fluid intake conduit means for operating the valve to admit or torestrict the fuel gas flowing to said burner accordingly as thetemperature of the fluid falls or rises to maintain the fluid within adesired temperature range, igniting means disposed near the gas burnerfor igniting gas flowing from the burner, said housing being conformedto provide vents for admitting combustion supporting fresh air to thehousing and for discharging the products of combustion therefrom, meansfor operating said circulator to move fluid into said heater coil whilegas is flowing to said burner, and further characterized by said housingbeing horizontally elongated and having said vents in one end thereof,said heater coil and gas burner being mounted in the end of the housingnear said vents, said thermostatic element, gas valve, and circulatorbeing mounted adjacent the other end of the housing, and a thermalinsulating partition in said housing between the two ends thereof.

RAY G. PHILLIPS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 17,098 Miner, Jr Oct. 9, 19281,061,635 Ross May 13, 1913 1,141,968 Leblanc June 6, 1915 1,240,683Curtiss Sept. 18, 1917 1,553,180 Lind et al Sept. 8, 1925 1,612,854Broido Jan. 4, 1927 1,801,007 Jezler Apr. 14, 1931 1,813,395 Fraser July7, 1931 1,844,183 Scarpa Feb. 9, 1932 1,852,069 Wollheim Apr. 5, 19321,856,024 Buchi Apr. 26, 1932 2,190,382 Moore Feb. 13, 1940 2,391,628Johnson Dec. 25, 1945 2,441,123 Weed May 4, 1948

